Johannesburg Star's rat-fur coats hoax

APR 01 1980

On 1 April 1980 the Johannesburg Star reported that police had raided a sewer where 'ratters' were breeding a special strain of imported Irish rats and selling the pelts as mink, seal skin and other furs. As a result of the story, furriers were besieged with calls from worried customers. It is the best-documented South African April Fools' press hoax of the apartheid era.